Internet Protocol (IP) addresses are used to designate the destination of IP communications. An IP address serves a purpose for network communications similar to a street address for mail. In order for a device connected to an IP network (node) to communicate over the network with another node through an Internet Protocol, each node must have an IP address, and each node must reference the IP address of the other node. Further, each node must be configured such that it is capable of determining a route to each other node with which it wishes to communicate. The IP address configuration information necessary to determine routes to other nodes for the purposes of communication form an IP Configuration for a node.
There are several methods to provide a node on a network with an IP Configuration. A node new to the network or which has been set to a factory default state may have a well known default IP configuration; for example, an address on a non-routable network. Alternatively, the IP network may utilize a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server. The DHCP server may have available a pool of IP addresses and may assign an address from the pool to the node for a session on the IP network. In this case, the node must be configured to accept an IP address from a DHCP server. As another alternative, some combination of DHCP and default configuration may be used to assign a node an IP Configuration.
A system administrator may require the IP address of a node in order to configure it. Typically, a system administrator directly or via systems management software may configure an IP device or node in order to enforce compliance of the device with the policies or behaviors of the network. The system administrator may manage devices from a central location through an IP network interface. For example, many IP devices such as a BladeCenter Management Module or a Switch Module support an Ethernet interface for access by an administrator or management software. The network interface enables remote access to the device over an IP network that is segmented into a private management network for security reasons.
The methods of providing IP addresses may not provide a working IP address known to the administrator. When a default configuration is utilized, the configuration is almost never correct for the network the device is located on. In this case, an administrator may manually configure the device with an IP configuration suitable for the management network using a priori knowledge of the IP network. The administrator may then access the device via a local network connection because the administrator knows the IP address. Similarly, when a combination of DHCP and default addresses is used, the device may attempt to obtain an IP address from a DHCP server. If that fails, the device may revert back to the default configuration. Again, the administrator may be required to manually access and configure the device over a local connection.
Even after the device or node is configured, similar problems might occur with the administrator later accessing the node. Although the administrator now has remote access over an IP network, the administrator may require local access. On occasion, the administrator might need to visit the facility where the equipment is actually located in order to address a specific problem. The administrator may take a laptop containing management software to the facility to execute the software against the device. For example, the administrator may need to execute diagnostic tests that require access to the device hardware. Frequently, in these locations, network access is unavailable to the administrator. There may be no Ethernet ports available for the laptop, the environment may be utilizing static IP configuration, or a DHCP reservation system may not supply an IP address to the administrator's machine. In these cases, the administrator may utilize a crossover cable to communicate with the device or node. The administrator may connect a cable directly from the Ethernet port of the laptop to the Ethernet port of the device. Even after making the physical connection, however, the administrator must still establish an IP network connection between the laptop and the device. In order to do so, the administrator must still determine a usable IP address of the device or node.
If the device has a known static IP address, the administrator may use that IP address. Otherwise, the administrator may be required to manually access the device to configure it with a known IP address. The manual configuration may be time consuming and may require the administrator to have detailed knowledge of the particular operating system and Internet options available on the device. In addition, gaining physical access to the device may be awkward. The device may, for example, consist of a module or a blade server which is packed in with other modules in a blade chassis. In addition, the device may be lacking ordinary IO devices, making assignment of an IP configuration difficult. For example, it may be a blade server operating “head-less” without local console, keyboard, and mouse.